How will campaign strategists and the label-loving media lump together voting mothers this presidential election? Mercifully, “soccer moms” and their white sneakers are no longer the go-to stereotype for all women with kids. (Mrs. Beckham's heels and British passport wrecked that cliche.)
And that trembling “security mom,” who clutched child to breast and gave every dark-skinned air-traveler the once-over, seems also to have exited the stage.
Here’s my guess: this election, candidates will be courting any child-bearing woman with a laptop and an opinion. Send your friend an email detailing the sordid Edwards dream you had last night and they’ll nail you as an online activist or mommy blogger.
Campaign managers will try to understand your interests, leverage your support, get you to be their candidate’s spokesperson for millions and millions of “like-minded mothers!”
Watch for the media’s sweeping generalizations about our fast-paced lives, our willingness to share news analysis alongside vacation photos, our love of shoes, anything pink and the tough talk/hard line/big ideas/forward thinking of INSERT CANDIDATE’S NAME HERE.
But, seriously, what do we all really have in common? Bandwidth?
And Daddies? Don’t expect equal treatment. You'll only get attention if you watch NASCAR. I don’t care what you write in your blog, you’re still just a male voter and, as a father, you will be ignored.
